U.S. Attorney’s Office Shares Internet Safety Materials for Families During the Start of the Schoolyear

BOISE – With families and communities throughout Idaho marking the start of the school year, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit and his team are sharing online safety resources with parents, educators, and students. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office works hand-in-hand with federal, state, and local partners to ensure Idaho’s children are protected online.  Sadly, the prevalence of smartphones and other electronic devices has been associated with criminal activity targeted at young people.  Predators seek to exploit and abuse children through online communication and through “sextortion” and other schemes.  In 2023, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received over 36 million reports related to online sexual exploitation, an increase of 12 percent from 2022.  And this problem extends to Idaho.  In the first half of 2024, the Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force received 2,424 reports of child exploitation.

Awareness is critical to preventing these heinous crimes.  The U.S. Attorney’s Office encourages parents, educators, and community members to review helpful safety resources available to the public, including those found at NCMEC’s NetSmartz website: missingkids.org/NetSmartz/home.  Printable internet safety tips sheets for parents and children, in both English and Spanish, are provided with this press release.

In addition, today, U.S. Attorney Hurwit and his Office’s Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, Kassandra McGrady, released a public service announcement, available here, to bring awareness to sextortion, a type of blackmail used by offenders to acquire sexual content from a child.  The criminal may use deceit or coercion to obtain a nude or sexual image of the child before blackmailing them for money or more content.

“As we begin a new schoolyear full of excitement and promise, I urge parents and educators to help educate our youth on internet safety,” said U.S. Attorney Hurwit.  “Sextortion and other crimes lead to devastating effects on our children, causing stress, mental health issues, and even suicide.  We must protect our children from online predators and arm our children with the knowledge and resources for how to seek help if they fall victim.”

The PSA aims to raise awareness about the unfortunate growing prevalence of sextortion and highlight the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s commitment to working alongside Idaho’s dedicated federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to put an end to this awful crime.

Follow these steps if you believe your child has been a victim of sextortion:

• Preserve the evidence. Take screenshots or write down names, usernames, and phone numbers.
• Report to law enforcement. Contact your local law enforcement and/or your local FBI field office and report it online at tips.FBI.gov.
• Report the perpetrator on social media. Social media apps have safety features you can use to report misconduct that violates their terms of service.
• Please do not comply with the predator’s demands. Complying with, or paying the perpetrator, rarely stops the harassment or blackmail and may fuel them to continue.
• Let NCMEC help get your images down. Visit missingkids.org/IsYourExplicitContentOutThere to learn how to notify companies yourself or visit missingkids.org/gethelpnow/cybertipline to report to NCMEC  for help with the process.

Remember, the blackmailer is to blame.  Even if your child made a choice they regret, the blackmailer is committing a very serious crime.

“We are here to help.  If you have concerns, reach out to our office, your local law enforcement agency or contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,” said U.S. Attorney Hurwit.  “Together we can end the sexual exploitation of teens and kids in Idaho.  Please take time to learn how to identify and respond to people who are at risk or who have experienced sextortion.”

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